西方合論 8.18

8.18

七、隨緣墮者，謂古人云：「隨緣消舊業，任運著衣裳，但順天真，萬行自圓，舉足下足，誰非淨業，何用種種作為？」答：「先德問曰：『即心是佛，何假修行？』答：『祇為是故，所以修行。』如鐵無金，雖經鍛鍊，不成金用。賢首國師曰：『今佛之三身，十波羅蜜，乃至菩薩利他等行，並依自法，融轉而行。』由眾生心中有真如，體大相大用大，今日修行，引出法報身等，由眾生心中有真如法性自無慳貪，今日修行，順法性無慳，引出檀波羅蜜等。《涅槃經》佛告師子吼菩薩：『一切眾生，皆有念心、慧心、發心、勤精進心、信心、定心，如是等法，雖念念滅，猶故相似相續不斷，故名修道。乃至如燈雖念念滅，而有光明除破暗冥；如眾生食，雖念念滅，亦能令饑者而得飽滿。譬如上藥，雖念念滅亦能愈病；日月光明雖念念滅，亦能增長草木樹林。』《寶積經》曰：『若無正修者，猫兔等亦應成佛。』牛頭融大師曰：『若言修生，則造作非真；若言本有，則萬行虛設。』《長者論》曰：『若一概皆平，則無心修道，應須策修，以至無修。』慈愍三藏錄曰：『若言世尊說諸有為定如空華，如何勅諸弟子，勤修六度，萬行妙因，當證菩提涅槃之果？豈有智者讚乾闥婆城，堅實高妙；復勸諸人，以兔角為梯，而可登陟乎！』由此理故，雖有漏修習，是實是正。如達摩對梁武之言，為彼貪著有為，因病發藥，何得以一期之語廢佛道業。且諸經中所謂，不住相戒施等者，謂有而不住耳；有而不住故，作而無作。今以本無為不住，如下里乞兒向人言：『吾不以富貴驕人。』豈非夢語！又復執言無作者，將須槁心枯體，如鑄金像等耶？抑猶酬酢應對，如常人耶？若酬酢應對者，應非無作；若言不乖無作者，觀佛禮念，本自天真，豈應獨乖。二義不成，即大妄語。是故當知隨緣任運，非是無作；若無作是隨緣者，蚓壤蛙泥，亦是隨緣，何不成佛？錯認祖機，執礫為玉，與市井兒所宗之無為教何以異哉！」

Seventh are those who fall into following conditions. They cite the ancients who said: "Following conditions, extinguish old karma; taking things as they come, put on one's clothes. Merely accord with natural reality, and the myriad practices are naturally complete. When lifting a foot or setting down a foot, which of these is not pure karma? What need is there for all sorts of contrivance?" In reply: An ancient worthy was asked: "If mind itself is Buddha, what need is there to rely on cultivation?" He answered: "Precisely because it is so, one must cultivate." If iron has no gold, though it undergo smelting, it will not serve as gold. National Preceptor Xianshou said: "The present Buddha's three bodies, ten pāramitās, and even the bodhisattva's practices of benefiting others are all based on one's own nature, harmoniously revolving and being carried out." Because sentient beings have tathatā in their minds, with its great essence, great marks, and great functions, present cultivation brings forth the Dharmakāya, Saṃbhogakāya, and so forth; because sentient beings have the dharmatā of tathatā in their minds which naturally lacks stinginess and greed, present cultivation accords with the dharmatā's lack of stinginess and brings forth the dāna-pāramitā and so forth. In the Nirvāṇa-sūtra, the Buddha told Bodhisattva Siṃhanāda: "All sentient beings have the mind of mindfulness, the mind of wisdom, the mind of aspiration, the mind of diligent vigor, the mind of faith, and the mind of concentration. Although such dharmas perish thought after thought, they nevertheless continue in unbroken, similar succession; therefore it is called cultivating the Way. It is just as a lamp, though it perishes thought after thought, has light that dispels darkness; just as the food eaten by sentient beings, though it perishes thought after thought, can also satisfy the hungry; just as superior medicine, though it perishes thought after thought, can cure disease; and just as the light of the sun and moon, though it perishes thought after thought, can also nourish grasses, trees, and forests." The Ratnakūṭa-sūtra says: "If there were no right cultivation, cats and hares should also attain buddhahood." Master Niutou Farong said: "If one says that cultivation produces it, then contrivance is not real; if one says it is inherently present, then the myriad practices are established in vain." The Zhangzhe lun states: "If everything is uniformly equal, there would be no mind to cultivate the Way. One must spur on cultivation so as to reach non-cultivation." The record of Tripiṭaka Master Cimin states: "If it is said that the World-Honoured One taught that all conditioned dharmas are definitely like sky-flowers, why did he instruct his disciples to diligently cultivate the six pāramitās and the myriad practices as wondrous causes, to realize the fruits of bodhi and nirvāṇa? Would any wise person praise a city of Gandharvas as solid, real, lofty, and wondrous, and further encourage people to use hare's horns as a ladder by which to climb up?" By this principle, even though it is defiled cultivation, it is real and right. As for Bodhidharma's words to Emperor Wu of Liang, they were medicine prescribed according to the illness because the emperor was greedy for and attached to the conditioned; how can words spoken for a single occasion be used to abolish the Buddhist practice of the Way? Furthermore, what all the sūtras call "not abiding in marks" regarding precepts, giving, and so forth means that they exist yet one does not abide in them; because they exist yet one does not abide in them, one acts and yet there is non-action. Nowadays, people take fundamental non-existence to be non-abiding; this is like a base beggar in the streets saying to others: "I do not use wealth and honor to act haughty toward people." Is this not talk in a dream? Moreover, those who cling to the word "non-action"—must they wither their minds and dry up their bodies, like casting a golden image? Or do they still converse and respond like ordinary people? If they converse and respond, that should not be non-action; if they say this does not contradict non-action, then contemplating the Buddha, bowing, and mindfulness are fundamentally natural reality—how should they alone contradict it? If neither meaning is established, that is a great lie. Therefore, one should know that following conditions and letting things take their course is not non-action. If non-action is following conditions, then earthworms in the soil and frogs in the mud are also following conditions; why do they not attain buddhahood? Mistaking the ancestral master's dynamic function and taking gravel for jade—how is this different from the Non-Action Teaching esteemed by the market mob!